The present invention relates to a process management system and a production management system which employs the process management system.
Conventionally, when a product is produced in a production line, various parts are sequentially assembled with respect to a main body of the product which flows along the line from its upstream side to downstream side.
The applicant has suggested a production management system with which a manufacturing management can be carried out easily and a traceability function is improved. Such a production management system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. P2001-56706A. According to the disclosure of this publication, each part of the product is treated as a product manufactured in another manufacturing facility. Then, a “process” is defined as receiving a part (i.e., a product manufactured at each facility) and manufacturing another product (i.e., another part including the received part). The process of manufacturing the final product is defined by a hierarchically-connected plurality of “processes”.
Recently, demand has increased for the manufacturing management system as described above, as well as similar systems dealing with physical entities such as parts of a product, the final product, food products such as meat, and the like. Additionally, demand exists for the management system as described above to deal with incorporeal entities such as economic management, company management and distribution management.
However, enhancement of a traceability function is desired for the various management systems, including those that deal with physical entities and incorporeal entities.